Not his usual spirited self, Meroh climbed free of Lake Hylia, water running of his nude form. His movements were cumbersome. Weighted and stoic. The Zora's dark eyes followed the surface of the lake to the tributary that led out to the Great Bay, and home. It had been a mistake, an honest mistake! Not a lapse in judgement, not willful maleficence, not even his typical carelessness! Yuku had been so beautiful, talented, and kind. No, he couldn't go back. Not with the words that had been given him. Every time he returned it was the same. She would not see him, others said. Be ashamed, they told him, and he was. Tired was the time scavenging for a living, the swamp offered no solace, only the savage river Zora and their fire. Polite company in Zora's domain shirked him now. A lost woods, to lose something or someone. It made sense. Gently rolling Kukuru in his palm, the hermit crab gave him a painful but affectionate pinch, drawing him out of his thoughts. "I know, I know, no sense in stagnating." The crab was returned to it's pouch, and he started into the trees. The way each looked like the last was unsettling, their canopies arched and twined. It wasn't long before the Zora wandered aimlessly over bough and root in the murky dimness.
The woods were quiet. Remei wasn’t used to the quiet. At one point or another in her life, rancour had been a constant companion to the Gerudo. The moments of silence were appreciated, but that didn’t stop them from being deeply unnerving. There was just something that felt wrong, when you were used to the roar of the sea or the shouts of your cohabitants, for that noise to be completely lacking from the atmosphere. Instead, Remei could hear her own heartbeat in her ears, thumping up through her jawbones. The trees were ghostly looming above her, tall wooden mourners hunched over the undergrowth as if looking down into a grave, scattering leaves like flower petals on the casket. It wasn’t a metaphor Remei particularly enjoyed thinking, the imagery sending a shiver down her spine, and she picked up her pace. She hadn’t encountered a single living creature in all of the forest, but the sensation of eyes fixed upon her intensified with every step she took. And then she heard a voice. Her immediate response was to yelp and go for a weapon, but the voice was quick to make itself into words, and not the rasping growl of a monster’s utterances. That was, at the very least, a friendly species, if not a friendly individual. She made her way towards the voice, pushing her way through the branches. The Lost Woods they may be, but she had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn’t be lost alone for much longer. “Hello?” she said, approaching the voice.
There were no paths to speak of, but still he was wary of the voice or moving towards it. He had heard of the things that lurked in these woods, and skullkids, stalchildren, and deku skrubs were not encounters he was particularly fond of having. "I am here." He retorted hesitantly, his dark eyes warily tracking the faint footfalls in the dark until a figure finally presented herself. In some ways, she was as a Hylian, but her skin was dark and ears rounded. "You're certainly no skullkid." He laughed genuinely and slouched back into the roots where he had made himself comfortable for a short time. "I am Meroh, formerly of the Eastern Sea Zora, well met." He seemed in no immediate hurry, and unfettered by the state of the woods or the coming dark, though each small sound issued from the forest drew his attention the same as it might hers.
Oh. Just a fish man. "Hey," Remei muttered, almost disappointed. Meroh. Very fishy name- literally. "'m Remei. Well met or whatever that was," She used to rob these guys as a pirate. More than one Eastern Sea Zora had attempted to transport goods via ship and been sorely regretful when a Gerudo pirate had landed on their boat and stolen every last bit of it. She'd yet to meet a tough Sea Zora. Meroh was unlikely to be helpful. "You lost, or something?" she asked. Escape wasn't an issue for her- climbing a tree was easier than climbing a mast, and from there she could just fly away. Exploration held little terror when you could just fly away from danger. "What're you doin' rattling around in here?" Din's mercy, the fish wasn't even armed, by the looks of things. Who went into the Lost Woods without a weapon?
"I suppose that was the intent in coming here." His dark eyes considered the canopy of the wood, and he pushed himself to his feet. "These woods have a reputation for it." Considering Remei for a moment, his people's encounters with the Gerudo came to mind. "What brings a Gerudo so far north?" Not suspicious, simply curious in how he poses his question.
Remei sniffed. “Exploring,” she said shortly. “I only recently came to Hyrule and I’ve made it my business to explore all the places these weak-livered long-eared cowards have neglected to venture into. They often shriek ‘haunted!’ or ‘monsters!’ at eachother and refuse to go any farther. I’m not nearly so quick to be discouraged,” Ego assuaged, she looked to the green-hued Zora. “Same at you, I guess. What are you doing here? No fish to be eaten in the woods, I would imagine. There a swimming hole or something you’re heading towards?” The racism of her comments seemed to fly over her head as she looked around them. “Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t afraid of no ghost tales. But these woods are downright creepy, you know? If you want me to escort you wherever you’re going, I’m happy to do it, for a few rupees. I may look young but I’m a very experienced fighter. I can fend off any monsters or bandits that come this way,”
At the question, his smile faded, and he considered his feet sheepishly for a moment. "I made a mistake. Once it gets around, there aren't going to be many places I'm welcome. Not with my people anyway." He took a deep breath and started slowly off through the trees at a meandering pace. "I came to the lost woods, to get lost. Maybe to find somewhere new that I can call my own. Wouldn't mind the company though."
“Geez, dramatic much,” she huffed. “Did you miss the bit about the rupees, though? I ain’t selling my glaive for free, voe. Hiring a sellsword is always gonna cost you. I’d say twenty, and a share of anything we find, and we can call it a deal?” She held out her dark hand invitingly, quirking an eyebrow at the Zora. “Take it or leave it, fish man, but if you’re going deeper it’s a piss poor decision to go alone. It’s dangerous in there and you look completely unarmed.”
